


Forever

by Squarepeg72



Series: Haven's Challenge 2019 [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Beginnings, Character Death, Endings, F/M, Falling In Love, Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 06:24:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18614959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squarepeg72/pseuds/Squarepeg72
Summary: A love story, in three parts. The good, the bad, and the end.





	Forever

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Hermione's Haven Bingo 2019  
> Square B2: I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once. - John Green
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> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/148170750@N07/46588728695/in/dateposted-public/)  
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> Song: Change on the Rise by Avi Kaplan

_It started on a train._

She was all bushy hair and attitude. Ron noticed her when she barged into their cubicle on the train and tried to fix everything. She was an irritating busy body who stuck herself into every situation. A muggle trying to fit in a magical world that she didn’t know anything about.

Ron had never spent more time being irritated by a girl in his entire life. Including, his little sister. She was always finding things for him and Harry to read. Pushing them to figure out the strange things that were happening around the school and, especially, around Harry. Ron began to dread the sight of her bushy hair or the know it all tone she always seemed to have.

Then, Halloween and the troll happened. Ron, in all his eleven year old wisdom, figured out that she was afraid. All that busyness and overachieving was her way of hiding that she was afraid and didn’t really fit in. Just like him and Harry. Maybe, the three of them could figure this thing out after all.

_It started with a spell._

He was all red hair and questions. Hermione noticed him when she introduced herself to him and the boy with the broken glasses on the train. He was noisy and clumsy and never seemed to have the right answer to anything, including a simple spell. A misfit trying to fit into what he thought he should be instead of just being himself.

Hermione had never had to work so hard at getting along with anyone. Including, the girls in her neighborhood. He was always mocking her and trying to avoid classwork. Talking about Quidditch or chocolate frogs instead of helping her and Harry figure out who was behind the strange events that were happening in the school. Hermione began to dread the sound of his voice coming around the corner or his red hair hiding behind a bookshelf in the library.

Then, the chess game happened. Hermione, in all her eleven year old imagination, could never have seen him sacrificing himself to win the game that saved Harry’s life. All that noise and accidental magic hid a tactical mind that was willing to take personal risks for the sake of his friends. Just like her and Harry. Maybe, he was the key to solving all the mysteries she was finding.

_It exploded with a fang._

He spent years feeling like a third wheel. Ron, Hermione and Harry, the three trouble makers or heroes, depending on who you talked to. She was the one pouring over books and making lists of tasks for him and Harry to do. She was usually the one that found the clue that got them out of trouble. She was becoming the glue that was holding everything together.

Ron noticed small changes over the years. She started to stop questioning her place in their world and started pushing to find answers to harder questions. He watched her grow into a strong witch who knew what she wanted and who she wanted to be. Ron began looking forward to spending time with her and watching her work out the next clue in the mystery that had consumed their lives. Until they started hunting horcruxes.

The Forest of Dean is where he got into trouble. Ron almost lost her when he walked away from their tent because the locket was driving him insane. The hunt for the horcruxes consumed them all. His decision to step away was driven by their effect on all of them. He needed time away to figure out what he was doing without the influence of the locket they couldn’t figure out how to destroy. When Ron finally returned, the snatchers and Bellatrix LeStrange tried to finish what his desertion had started. But, they came out of the battle that followed stronger than the poison that was still in the basilisk's fang.

_It shattered in a scream._

She almost gave up in the year of the war. Hermione, Harry and Ron, the messengers of hope or gloom, depending on who you were. She was tired of chasing shadows and answers. When he walked away from the tent in the Forest of Dean, she thought everything was over. He was the glue holding her together, but no one realized it.

Hermione wandered aimlessly with Harry after he left. Nothing seemed to make sense and every answer they thought the found lead to more dangerous questions with no answers. She waited for him to find them so things made sense again. Hermione missed the times they spent huddled over books or arguing over the right way to tackle the problems they were facing. Until he came back and the snatchers found them.

Malfoy Manor was her breaking point. Hermione almost lost her mind when they locked him and the others in the cellar and kept her in the dining room. She tried to stay quiet as Bellatrix's spell carved her condemnation in her arm, but his screams from the depths of the Manor tore her voice from her throat. It took a great sacrifice to bring them back together and start them back on the path to a future together.

_It ended with a sigh._

He curled around her as she slept. Hugo and Rose were on opposite sides of the bed, touching her hands and hair, softly crying. When she took her last breath, he kissed her curls and closed his eyes. Hand in hand, they walked into the light.

_It ended in a kiss._

She felt him wrap his arms around her as she struggled to breath. Harry and Ginny were whispering in the background, supporting her children, softly waiting. As she let out her last breath, she felt his kiss and heard his promise. “Always together. Knights promise.”


End file.
